Back to school shopping: A tablet, a notebook computer or a hybrid?

When my kids were young, the box with the most coloured pencils was the winning formula but that soon morphed into a computer in the kitchen, then laptops in knapsacks and today when I asked my daughter what she’d be taking to her university classes in September, her answer: A tablet computer, maybe a mini version since 10-inch tablets are starting to be regarded like desktop computers — a useful device for home and family but not as handy for carrying around in a school backpack.

A seven-inch tablet? I remember lugging an enormous desktop computer – back straining heavy screen and all – home so the kids could do their homework. Today, students can take notes on a device that’s about the size of a grade school notebook and hardly weighing much more.

Samsung GALAXY Tab 3, seven-inch, $199

And unlike the days of a one-size-fits-all computer, today the range in price, size and function goes from an $80 tablet to $1,500 and more for a powerhouse computer with an impressive screen.

And faced with a desktop or a laptop that doesn’t have a touch screen, you may notice kids who have become used to smartphones and tablets will be tapping the screen to try and operate the computer. I do it myself sometimes – forgetting my old workhorse, wood-burning laptop doesn’t share the convenient characteristics of today’s touch screens.

How do you decide what you need?

“Now for a university student who is going to write notes, maybe a tablet would work, but if the same university student is going into engineering, that might not be so fine,” said Cedric Tetzel, merchandise manager for London Drugs.

“My daughter is a writer and my son is an engineer and their computing requirements are so divergent, they’re not even close. When my son graduated, with his first pay cheques, he bought himself a top-of-the-line iMac but at work, he has to use Windows because that’s what the CAD programs run.”

Apple iMac, all-in-one desktop, from $1,300

The first thing you have to decide is what’s your main use for your new computer or computing device.

“It’s almost like buying clothing, you have to know your purpose,” said Tetzel. “If you’re going to a wedding you probably don’t want to be buying a pair of jeans.

While in Canada we haven’t become like the United Kingdom, where parents of children in state schools are now required to buy iPads for their kids or shell out a rental fee for use of one during the school year, nonetheless a lot of youngsters in grade school have smartphones, iPod touches or min tablets.

While we tend to think of the pricier iPads that start at $329 for the mini version when we’re looking for a tablet computer, consider the growing range of Android alternatives. Starting as little as $80 for the WiFi-connected seven-inch Proscan tablet, there’s a tablet at every size and price point up to the $900 Microsoft Surface Pro, which combines the flexibility of a tablet with the features of notebook computer.

A large screen desktop computer, or one of the all-in-one computing and entertainment machines meant for the living room or den, hooked up to a colour printer could be enough for homework projects in grade school.

Among the items you’ll find on store shelves for back-to-school shopping, Samsung recently rolled out its new lineup that covers the gamut from a seven-inch tablet, the Samsung GALAXY Tab 3, to the powerful and versatile ATIV Q, a laptop/tablet hybrid with dual operating systems, able to run Windows 8 and Android 4.2.2.

Samsung ATIV Q, $1,500

We had a chance to check out the new Samsung lineup and here’s our video walk through of the new devices.

Tetzel, who chairs the Alberta Electronics Recycling Council, said the council has been noticing that people are keeping their computing equipment longer. That means rather than going to recycling, old laptops may be recycled at home with teens getting mom or dad’s old laptop.

“When the program started in 2006, 2007 in Alberta, notebooks were around three to three-and-a-half years,” said Tetzel. “Last year’s survey found they were up in the seven-year range.

“People are keeping their computers longer. It’s good from an environmental standpoint they are finding other uses for it, they may go to a younger child.

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